Boynton’s Due South brews with world’s ‘best new brewery’ in Spain, Skypes it

Edge brewer Alan Sheppard's mother designed the logo for Taronja HoRyezon. This year's label will include a hat tip to Due South's recipe. (Photo: Contributed by Edge Brewing)

Alan Sheppard (Edge brewer), Greg Spiers (Edge assistant brewer), and Mike Halker (Due South owner/brewer) zested more than 60 pounds of oranges by hand for their collaboration, Taronja HoRyezon, last February. They’re doing it again this week. (Photo: Courtesy Due South Brewery)

Spain is world-renowned for its wine, cheese, ham, and now — thanks in part to a Palm Beach County brewery — for its American craft beer.

Now, they’re doing it again — and this time, the beer is coming back to Florida.

Edge brewer Alan Sheppard’s mother designed the logo for Taronja HoRyezon. This year’s label will include a hat tip to Due South’s recipe. (Photo: Contributed by Edge Brewing)

Halker is in Barcelona for the next week to brew a double batch of what Edge calls Taronja HoRyezon, and the brewing process will be beamed back to the Due South Boynton Beach taproom via Skype for a live Q-and-A, at 4 p.m. Thursday. Bottles of Taronja will be available at most liquor stores in Florida by the end of April.

“We had a lot of fun, man,” Halker, 46, said. “As the Spanish palate starts to develop a taste for American craft beer, it’s just going to get bigger and bigger.”

Edge was founded by two Florida men, Tampa’s Scott Vanover, 47, and Eustis’ Alan Sheppard, 46, an engineer who helped design Due South’s brewery and co-brewed its first official batch of beer, the Southern Saison.

Sheppard was set to open a brewery in downtown Eustis when he got an offer from Vanover to set up one in Barcelona. After a visit, he sold his building and equipment and went in on Edge Brewing. His first order of business was to invite Halker to brew a special batch of beer, the Taronja.

“It gives us a chance to work together and just hang out,” Sheppard said by Skype. “Mike’s a genius when it comes to making recipes and he’s got a really incredible palate.”

Just as they will do this week, Halker and Sheppard brewed at 10 p.m. Barcelona time so the crowd in Due South’s tap room six hours behind could share in the process.

Their Taronja HoRyezon was a hit at the Barcelona Beer Festival and was rated a 95 out of 100 among Rate Beer users. A month ago, Rate Beer said their “unabashedly American style beers” put them above more than 3,800 new breweries worldwide.

“And I think it has a lot to do with the beer we brewed together,” Sheppard said.

This year’s batch will be made with Valencia oranges used in three stages of brewing. Sheppard says Taronja will become a permanent beer in their lineup going forward. He says brewing more than 1,000 gallons will allow them to send several kegs back to the United States, including to Due South’s tap room. Edge Brewing’s beer is distributed in nine countries and is available in several Florida locations, Sheppard said.

Due South gets a hat tip on the new label, which was designed by Sheppard’s mother, Eustis artist Mary Ziegengeist — another nod to the bursting Florida craft beer scene.

“The beer scene in Florida is going nuts and South Florida in particular is going crazy,” Sheppard said. “This collaboration is a real treat for us.”

IF YOU GO

What: Due South head brewer Mike Halker will brew a batch of limited-release beer with Edge Brewing in Barcelona, Spain, and the process will be aired live via Skype into the Due South taproom.When: Thursday, 4 p.m.Where: Due South brewery, 2900 High Ridge Rd. #3, Boynton Beach.More information: 561-463-2337